Featured Shows

Weekday

Weekend

Touré picks apart LL Cool J's 'Accidental Racist' song

In this week's "Office Politics" Alex Witt interviews Touré, her MSNBC colleague and co-host of "The Cycle." Touré gives his take on President Obama's budget proposal, and then he discusses the controversy around Brad Paisley and LL Cool J's new song, ...

Touré: What went wrong with ‘The Accidental Racist’

In a new interview with msnbc’s Alex Witt for an “Office Politics” segment, Touré weighed in on the controversial new song “Accidental Racist” by Brad Paisley and LL Cool J.

Touré, who co-hosts msnbc’s The Cycle, explained the last part of the song is what troubles him the most.

“We go into the last chorus. And now we run into real problems. ‘Don’t judge me for my do-rag, and I won’t judge you for your red flag.’ Okay, entirely two different things, right. This flag and an article of clothing, right. If Brad put on the do rag, nobody would think anything, right, so it’s clear that black signifier, like if LL had a hoodie, oh my god, we’re afraid of him, but when you know, if Justin Timberlake or Justin Bieber where a hoodie, it’s cute, right. That’s not at all equivalent to the flag of the confederacy, right. But then LL Cool J says, ‘If you forgive my gold chains, I will forget the iron chain.’ And I’m like ‘Nooooooo! WHAT?!’ What?! We’re supposed to forget slavery if you won’t judge me because I am wearing a gold chain? Are you kidding me?!”

Touré also talked new book “I Would Die 4 U: Why Prince Became an Icon,” and why Prince has remained something of a phantom for decades.

“Prince comes from a different era, and when artists were a little bit more shadowed, shielded, you didn’t know everything about them. You didn’t have US magazine pictures of them going to the grocery store, you didn’t have Twitter where they are constantly talking to you. You know, and he was ubiquitous in that he was constantly doing a new video, a new song, new tour. But there was a mystery kept. He was able to give you an image and then sort of go away.”

Witt then asked Touré about his job on The Cycle. Who does he argue with the most?

“I spar with S.E. the most because Krystal and I are true blue liberals. We agree on most things. I mean, when we disagree it’s granular. Ari is new and he hasn’t yet come out of his shell in terms of this is where I stand, and I’m not yet sure that’s the sort of person he is. Krystal and I are far left spectrum, except for gun control, which she’s from Virginia so she’s much more moderate. But everything else we are far left.”